Lifter Sargar feels the pain of silver more than a hurting elbow

The 55kg lifter was set for gold at the Commonwealth Games until an elbow injury during the clean and jerk section eventually pushed him to second by one kg

Sanket Mahadev Sargar was in tears when he spoke to his personal coach Mayur Sinhasane from Birmingham on Saturday. Sargar had just opened India’s medal tally with silver in men’s 55kg but he was more in pain than in any celebration when he rang up his coach in Sangli, Maharashtra. Sargar’s right arm was in a sling and he was waiting to get a scan done in a clinic.

Indian weightlifter Sanket Sargar atop the podium poses after winning the silver medal in the men's 55kg category weightlifting event (PTI)

Injuries are not new to Sargar. In a fledgling career, he has braved back and elbow injuries but this was difficult to handle because the gold medal slipped from his grasp.

“The pain in his arm was unbearable when he spoke to me but he was talking about the missed gold. I said we are all proud of him,” Sinhasane said.

Sargar had cruised in snatch with a lift of 113kg, which opened up a 6kg lead over his nearest rival, Malaysia’s Mohamad Aniq Kasdan. That was when the 21-year-old suffered the big setback, injuring his right elbow during a failed clean-and-jerk attempt.

In clean and jerk, Sargar had lifted 135kg in his first attempt. But going for 139kg in his second attempt, his elbow gave in and he dropped the barbell. Sargar braved a third try and this time he was in even more pain. Kasdan lifted a Games record 142kg to take the gold, winning by one kg. Sargar’s total lift was 248 kg to Kasdan’s 249.

“He and his family have seen many tough days. We had planned for CWG for four years and he has put everything into it. He was upset but we are happy he won a silver medal for India,” Sinhasane, a former weightlifter, said.

Sargar comes from a humble background. His father runs a tea stall in Sangli. Sargar has chased his dream for the last four years. Sangli is known for its weightlifting culture and Sargar was introduced to the sport in 2013 when his father took him to a training centre (Digvijay Weightlifting Institute) run by Sinhasane’s father, who was passionate about wrestling and weightlifting.

“We have underprivileged kids in our academy. After my father, I have been looking after Sargar’s training since 2017,” he said.

Sargar had an elbow issue in 2019 when he was injured and could not perform well in the junior nationals. “There was a pull in his elbow and it took two months to recover. Since then he has been wary of his elbow. Whenever he trains here and feels he has a load in his elbow, I ask him to leave,” says Sinhasane.

He says Sargar complained of elbow pain in April and a physio had worked on it in the national camp. “But after physio sessions he had fully recovered and that is why he was doing so well in Birmingham.”

A back injury in 2020, after the lockdown, had also threatened his career.

“When we restarted training in the academy in August after the lockdown, after a deadlift he had severe back pain. We took a scan and found he had spondylosis. There was a crack in his spine and the doctor told us it could be dangerous. He was advised not to train. For two months he did not lift the barbell. We were so worried about how he would recover.

“We took the advise of a doctor in Mumbai and his treatment helped. He was on a diet for two months that mainly had juices, seeds, etc. Surprisingly, he recovered in three months. In the next four months we worked hard to get him back to full fitness because in February he had to defend his title at the nationals, which he did.”

Sargar has won the nationals thrice and also holds the national record. At the world championships in December, Sargar failed in all three clean and jerk attempts and could not make the cut for CWG. It was only in the Singapore International meet, the last opportunity to make the cut, when Sargar was in full flow.

“After missing out at the worlds, he was very motivated at Singapore. He had all six clean lifts (113kg snatch, 143 clean and jerk) and set the national record, which was also a meet record.

“He is totally different in competitions. He is fearless. Whenever I give him a target after the month end, he takes it as a challenge. In competitions, he always clears five to six lifts. When his opponent comes closer, he goes all out to clear the lift, he is so obsessed with winning. This silver will haunt him for a while but he is resilient and will bounce back.”